A senior Pastor was advising his young associate on his preaching, and said “When I see members of the congregation nodding off, or looking at their watches, I try to grab their attention by saying something shocking. For example, I might say in the middle of my sermon, ‘Last night I spent the evening in the arms of a married woman . . .’ When I have their attention I add ‘ . . . it was my wife.'”

Sometime later the younger man was preaching, but he could see members in his congregation fidgeting, some yawning and others looking at their watches, so he announced “Last night I spent the evening in the arms of a married woman . . .’ The congregation were rapt. Jaws hung open. Frosty stares came from some of the older members, all of which unnerved the young man, who added ‘ . . . and for the life of me I cannot remember who she was!!”

In a recent interview on the website Breakfast With Fred, Steve Brown (speaker for KeyLife, a prof at Reformed Seminary, and a Preaching Magazine senior consulting editor) explained that, “In my classes at the seminary, I teach a TULIP of communication. The TULIP presupposes the authority of Scripture, understanding doctrine, knowing how to exegete a text. The principles are as follows . . .
T = Therapeutic. ” The communicator must, by necessity, speak to problems with solutions. Like a surgeon, the words may heal or hurt to heal . . . but if there is no healing, then there is no real communication.”
U = Unconventional. “The greatest sin for a communicator is the sin of boring the audience . . . Don’t say it the way everybody else has said it. Don’t say the expected. Don’t fit into anybody else’s mold.”
L = Lucid. “I tell students that a good measurement of their communication skills is this question: If your listeners wanted to take notes, could they? . . . The content may be only one point made by a story . . . but that one point should be clear . . . clear enough so that it would be written down and put into practice.
I = Illustrated. “Stories are very, very important in modern communication. Learn where to find them, how to use them and then use the often . . . ”
P = Passionate. “If you don’t care, nobody else will. If you aren’t excited about what you are going to say, nobody else will be excited. So, if your “hot buttons” are not pushed, don’t try to communicate it to anybody else.” (To read the entire interview, click here.)
Quoted from PreachingNow email list

“There are three types of preachers: those to whom you cannot listen; those to whom you can listen; and those to whom you must listen. During the introduction the congregation usually decides the kind of speaker addressing them that morning.”
Biblical Preaching (Baker, 2nd edition, 2002), p. 175

The British Weekly published this provocative letter:

Dear Sir:

It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church quite regularly for thirty years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else.

For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued … finally ended by this letter:

Dear Sir:

I have been married for thirty years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals — mostly my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet … I have the distinct impression that without them I would have starved to death long ago.

Teaching is imparting information. Preaching is for something to happen. Preaching is an EVENT.
Don Williams, Soul Survivor 2002

A sermon should have a good beginning and a good ending, and they should be as close together as possible.
Bella !

He who thinks by the inch and talks by the yard should be kicked by the foot!
Bella !

It’s one thing to say something, It’s another to have something to say.
Bella !

Some preachers are like camels. They can go on a long time without knowing how dry they are.
Bella !

The preacher who doesn’t strike oil in fifteen minutes should stop boring.
Quoted from Net153.com email list

“I have heard of a brother who trusts in the Lord, and does not study; but I have also heard that his people do not trust in him; in fact, I am informed that they wish him to go elsewhere with his inspired discourses, for they say that, when he did study, his talk was poor enough, but now that he gives them that which comes first to his lips, it is altogether unbearable. If any man will preach as he should preach, his work will take more out of him than any other labour under heaven. If you and I attend to our work and calling, even among a few people, it will certainly produce a friction of soul and a wear of heart which will tell upon the strongest. . . .”
Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry